Sunday, December 30, 2007

My brothers and sisters everywhere! With this essay, I am not singling out the adherents of Islam - to which I ascribe - but rather I am writing this essay to every man and woman throughout the whole world.

I ask Allah that He facilitates tat this essay reaches every ear, falls under the sight of every eye, and is understood by every heart...

Muhammad the son of `Abdullah is Allah's Prophet and the Final Messenger Sent by Allah to the Inhabitants of Earth.

My brothers and sisters everywhere! You should know that the Messenger, Muhammad the son of `Abdullah (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) is Allah's Messenger in reality and truth. The evidences that show his veracity are abundant. None but an infidel, who out of arrogance alone, could deny these signs.

Among these proofs:

1. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) was raised illiterate, unable to read or write, and remained like that till his death. Among all his people, he was known as being truthful and trustworthy. Before receiving revelation, he had no prior knowledge of Religion or any previously sent Message. He remained like that for his first forty years. Revelation then came to Muhammad with the Koran that we now have between our hands. This Koran mentioned most of the accounts found in the previous scriptures, telling us about these events in the greatest detail as if he witnessed them. These accounts came precisely as they were found in the Torah sent down to Moses and in the Gospel sent down to Jesus. Neither the Jews or Christians were able to belie him regarding anything that he said.

2. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) also foretold of everything that would occur to him and his community after him, pertaining to victory, the removal of the tyrannical kingdoms of Chosroes [the royal title for the Zoroastrian kings of Persia] and Caesar, and the establishment of the religion of Islam throughout the earth. These events occurred exactly as Muhammad foretold, as if he was reading the future from an open book.

3. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) also brought an Arabic Koran that is the peak of eloquence and clarity. The Koran challenged those eloquent and fluent Arabs of his time, who initially belied him, to bring forth a single chapter like the Koran. The eloquent Arabs of his day were unable to contest this Koran.

Indeed, till our day, none has ever dared to claim that he has been able to compose words that equal-or even approach-the order, grace, beauty, and splendor of this Glorious Koran.

4. The life history of this Noble Prophet was a perfect example of being upright, merciful, compassionate, truthful, brave, generous, distant from all evil character, and ascetic in all worldly matters, while striving solely for the reward of the Hereafter. Moreover, in all his actions and dealings, he was ever mindful and fearful of Allah.

5. Allah instilled great love for Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) in the hearts of all who believed in and met him. This love reached such a degree that any of his companions would willingly sacrifice his (or her) self, mother or father for him.

Till today, those who believe in Muhammad honor and love him. Anyone of those who believe in him would ransom his own family and wealth to see him, even if but once.

6. All of history has not preserved the biography of any person in the manner it has preserved the life of Muhammad, who is the most influential human in history.

Nor has the entire earth known of anyone whom every morning and evening, and many times thereafter throughout the day, is thought of by those who believe in him. Upon remembering Muhammad, the believers in him will greet him and ask Allah to bless him. They do such with full hearts and true love for him.

7. Nor has there every been a man on earth whom is still followed in all his doings by those who believe in him.

Those who believe in Muhammad, sleep in the manner he slept; purify themselves (through ablution and ritual washing) in the manner he purified himself; and adhere to his practice in the way they eat, drink, and clothe themselves.

Indeed in all aspects of their lives, the believers in Muhammad adhere to the teachings he spread among them and the path that he traveled upon during his life.

During every generation, from his day till our time, the believers in this Noble Prophet have fully adhered to his teachings. With some, this has reached the degree that they desire to follow and adhere to the Prophet's way in his personal matters regarding which Allah has not sought of them to adhere to in worship. For example, some will only eat those specific foods or only wear those specific garments that the Messenger liked.

Let alone all that, all those who believe in Muhammad repeat those praises of Allah, special prayers, and invocations that he would say during each of his actions during day and night, like: what he would say when he greeted people, upon entering and leaving the house, entering and leaving the mosque, entering and leaving the bathroom, going to sleep and awaking from sleep, observing the new crescent, observing the new fruit on trees, eating, drinking, dressing, riding, traveling and returning from travel, etc.

Let alone all that, all those who believe in Muhammad fully perform-even to the minute detail-every act of worship-like prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage-as this Noble Messenger (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) taught and as he himself performed.

All of this allows those who believe in him, to live their lives in all aspects with this Noble Messenger as their example, as if he was standing before them, for them to follow in all their doings.

8. There has never been nor will there ever be a man anywhere upon this earth who has received such love, respect, honor, and obedience in all matters-small and large alike-as has this Noble Prophet.

9. Since his day, in every region of the earth and during every period, this Noble Prophet has been followed by individuals from all races, colors and peoples. Many of those who followed him were previously Christians, Jews, pagans, idolaters, or without any religion. Among those who chose to follow him, were those who were known for their sound judgment, wisdom, reflection, and foresight. They chose to follow this Noble Prophet after they witnessed the signs of his truthfulness and the evidences of his miracles. They did not choose to follow Muhammad out of compulsion or coercion or because they had adopted the ways of their fathers and mothers.Indeed many of the followers of this Prophet (may Allah's blessings peace be upon him), chose to follow him during the time when Islam was weak, when there were few Muslims, and when there was severe persecution of his followers on earth. Most people who have followed this Prophet (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) have done so not to acquire some material benefits. Indeed many of his followers have suffered the greatest forms of harm and persecution as a result of following this Prophet. Despite all this harm and persecution, this did not turn them back from his religion.

My brethren! All of this clearly indicates to anyone possessing any sense, that this Prophet was truly and really Allah's messenger and that he was not just a man who claimed prophethood or spoke about Allah without knowledge.

10. With all this, Muhammad came with a great religion in its credal and legal make-up.Muhammad described Allah with qualities of complete perfection, and at the same time in a manner that is free of ascribing to Him any imperfection. Neither the philosophers or the wise could ever describe Allah like such. Indeed it is impossible to imagine that any human mind could conceive of an existing being that possesses such complete ability, knowledge, and greatness; Who has subdued the creation; Who has encompassed everything in the universe, small or large; and Who possesses such perfect mercy.

Nor is it in the ability of any human being to place a perfect law based upon justice, equality, mercy and objectivity for all human activity on earth like the laws that Muhammad brought for all spheres of human activity - like buying and selling, marriage and divorce, renting, testimony, custody, and all other contracts that are necessary to uphold life and civilization on earth.

11. It is impossible that any person conceive wisdom,, morals, good manners, nobleness of characters as what this honorable Prophet (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) brought.

In a full and complete manner, Muhammad spread a teaching regarding character and manners toward one' parents, relatives, fiends, family, humanity, animals, plants and inanimate objects. It is impossible for the human mind alone to grasp all of that teaching or come with a similar teaching.

All of that unequivocally indicates that this Messenger did not bring an) of this religion from his own accord, but that it was rather a teaching and inspiration that he received from the One Who created the earth and the high heavens above and created this universe in its miraculous architecture and perfection.

12. The legal and credal make-up of the religion that the Messenger, Muhammad, (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) brought resembles the engineering of the heavens and the earth. All of that indicates that He who created the heavens and the earth is the One Who sent down this great law and upright religion.

The degree of inimitability of the Divine law that was sent down upon Muhammad is to the same degree of inimitability of the Divine creation of the heavens and earth. For just as humanity cannot create this universe, in the same manner humanity cannot bring forth a law like Allah's law that He sent down upon His servant and messenger Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him).

Saturday, December 29, 2007

I would like to open up the discussion as to whether Malcolm X (El Hajj) Malik Ash-Shabazz, ramatullahi `alaihi, was more influential during his life or during his death? Also he more remember for his NOI days or his true-Islam days?

Thursday, December 27, 2007

On Felipe LucianoBy, Khalil Al-Puerto Rikani

Just a few points I would like to say about Felipe Luciano. He was not only a member of the Young Lords, but he was also the first Chairman of the Party - when the Lords was at its peak. As a member of the Central Committee, he was perhaps one of the leaders of the Lords who was most in touch with the street folk (as most of the rank-and-file members were from this segment of society); and he most represented them, despite the fact that he was college educated. In addition, Luciano is as much at home with his "blackness" as he is with his "latinidad" ("Latinoness"); and he does that without adopting "African-Americanness" but drawing upon "blackness" within Puerto Rican culture. Also, Luciano at one part of his life (while in prison) was part of the Nation of Islam. Currently, he is a reporter such as is former Lords Central Committee members Pablo "Yoruba" Guzman and Juan Gonzalez, as well as former Lords' lawyer Geraldo Rivera. Out of all of these just mentioned, he (and Juan Gonzalez, columist for The New York Daily News and Democracy Now! co-host with Amy Goodman) is certainly the most involved in the community till today.

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I remember first hearing his poem "Jibaro, My Pretty Nigger," as a teenager when my mother would play Eddie Palmieri's LP recorded at Sing Sing.

On his use of the term "jibaro," as he explained, "You see the thing about jibaro is that he is often consider a hick, but in fact he is the ancestor..." This newer version of the poem from Def Poetry is slightly different from the original. (See http://youtube.com/watch?v=W78FLvC5c3Y). Furthermore, Luciano attached the jibaro to it's true roots as the Black maroon of Puerto Rico; by that he opposed the lie (and broke down the hegemony) propagated in Puerto Rico in the 20th Century that the "jibaro" is descended from the large White Spanish population that migrated to the island in the 1800s.

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By being one of the original Last Poets, he was one of the original rappers. In that regard, he helped to shape what would be known as the mceeing (rapping) element of the hip-hop culture. For more on Felipe Luciano, from his own words see Michael Abramson's Palante: Young Lords Party. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971).

Response: The ruling regarding the one who forgot to say ((prayer is better than sleep)) during the adhaan of the Fajr prayer is that it is known to the people of knowledge that his adhaan is correct, because the saying of ((prayer is better than sleep)) during the adhaan of the Fajr prayer is a Sunnah and not obligatory, the evidence being that when `Abdullaah ibn Zayd (radhi-yAllaahu 'anhu) saw the adhaan in his dream, it did not contain the words ((prayer is better than sleep)) [transmitted by Abu Daawood No.449, Ahmad No.4/43]. Therefore, the saying of these words [((prayer is better than sleep))] is not a condition (for the correctness of the adhaan of the Fajr prayer]; So if a person said it during the adhaan of the Fajr prayer, then that is better, and if he did not, then there is no harm.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Monday, December 17, 2007

Ibrahim, a Pennsylvania teenager, explains how difficulties with church teaching about Jesus as God led him from Catholicism to Islam.

A time comes in everyone's life, or at least I hope it comes, when they realize that they have to not only believe what they believe in, whatever it may be, but get out there and proclaim it to the world. Luckily, that time came early for me. I am 17, and Islam is the belief that I’m proclaiming.

I was raised Catholic. Not internally as much as externally. I went to Catholic Sunday school, called CCD, but the Catholic view of God never played a major roll in my childhood. It was a Sunday thing. Anyhow, I started to enjoy Mass around 7th grade. It made me feel good to do the right thing. I was always a rather moral person, but I never really studied the fundamentals of Catholicism. I just knew that I felt good worshipping my creator.I really liked Catholicism, but I always saw it as us (the Catholics) with Jesus worshipping God, not us worshipping God and Jesus as one. I saw Jesus (peace be upon him) as my example on how to be a good follower of and submitter to God's will, but not as God himself.Before I was confirmed in 8th grade, in the fall of 1999, I learned a lot about what Catholicism was. The Catholicism of the Church had a lot on viewing Jesus as God in it. Nothing like my “undivided God being worshipped by me with Jesus as an example” train of thought. It was like they just opened up a can of cold, illogical confusion and tried to feed it to me. It didn’t feel right.I continued with Catholic church, and kept on worshipping. But I talked to many in the church about my feelings that Jesus wasn't God but more of a Prophet, an example. They told me that I had to accept him as God and as a sacrifice, and so on. I just wasn't buying it. I tried to buy it but I guess God withhold the sale for my own benefit. There was a better car out there for me. I continued at the church.

Sometime in mid-December of 1999, for no reason that I can recall I started reading up on Islam in encyclopedias. I remember making a list of bolded words in the entry for "Islam" in an old 1964 Grolier World Book that I found in my closet, and studying them. For some reason I was amazed by this faith and that it was all about God and that it was everything that I believed all my life - right here. Previously, I had accepted that there was no faith like I felt inside of me. But I was amazed that I had found this faith. I found out that "my" faith had a name, and millions of other adherents!Without ever reading a Qur'an or talking to another Muslim, I said shahada (declaring your belief in no god but God) on 31 December 1999. As the months passed, I learned more. I went through many periods of confusion, happiness, doubt and amazement. Islam took me on an enlightening tour of me, everyone else, and God.

The transition was slow. I was still attending Mass five months into my change of faith. Each time I went, I felt more and more distant from the congregation, but closer and closer to Prophet Jesus and God.

During Ramadan 2001, the second time I fasted (the first year, I converted during Ramadan and did not fast), I went to the library during lunch period. It was better than sitting at a table with my friends, because I got work done in the library. I swear my grades went up. Anyways, I started talking to the only other Muslim at my school, John. We talked about Islam a little more each day. He's an awesome brother and he took me to the mosque on the last Friday of Ramadan. Going was one of the best things I ever made in my life. God really answered my prayers this time. I thought I would be nervous, but I wasn't at all. It was the most natural thing I ever did in my life. I felt home. I realized something before leaving. As I sat there on the floor, praying to God, I realized that the room was full of others but it was OK. See, at home when someone asks me what I am doing, I never say I am praying. I never admit it to anyone. It is too awkward. But there, at the masjid, I was praying to God in front of a score of other Muslims and I felt perfectly fine. Better than fine! I felt secure and safe. It was the most liberating thing since I accepted God into my heart that cold New Year's Eve almost two years ago.I never told my parents right out. In fact, I don't plan to. The most significant clue that I gave came around 1:00 AM on 16 December 2001, when I finally told my dad I was going to the mosque in the morning with a friend when he asked me why I was setting my alarm. He told me how he can't wait for me to move out of the house, how displeased he is with me and how stupid the choices I make are to him. I never told them straight out because I figured it was best to test the waters by revealing clues bit by bit; I didn't want to send a shockwave through the family. I can only imagine what my dad would do if he knew I was actually a practicing Muslim. He seems to hate my guts just for studying the faith, which he thinks is all I am doing. I understand that my dad is a depressed man, so I don't really hold this all against him. I mean, it is his fault for thinking himself so smart that he doesn't need God. That thought is what got him so depressed. But I don't think he realized how hard one's heart can be when you deny your human need for a relationship with your Creator. So I don't hold it all against him. He didn't know what he was getting into. My mom doesn't know that I am a Muslim, but at least she hasn't shown her anger over me going to the mosque. She is upset over it but never told me that I displease her, at least. As God commands, I'll continue to try my best to be nice to my parents as long as they don't attempt to take away my Islam. The best thing that I can do for them is to be a good example so that maybe one day, inshallah, they can see that there is a better way of living than living in the dark world of God-denial.

I've never been to the Mid-East, but I am studying Islam every day. I read books from every point of view. Sufi, Shia, Sunni, books on the Qur'an alone... The Muslims view sects as haram, so no matter what you believe you are always a Muslim and nothing extra. You may have completely different views than another Muslim, but as long as you both believe that there is no god but God, you are both Muslims and that's that. I read a lot on-line, and discuss a lot with other Muslims on-line and on the phone. I've met some really great people on-line who have taught me a lot about life, Islam and God.

Right now, I am 100% a Muslim and that will never change, inshallah. I thank God that I've gone through so many periods of doubt. When I look back I see that it was not God leaving me but God telling me that it was time that I asked myself how much I loved God, and what I was willing to go through to understand my faith. A week of crying, depression, prayer, reading to the extreme, and ignoring most other things in life sounds harsh...but the reward - knowing so much more about yourself, God, and the relationship between you (Islam) - is worth more than any material things. Through my interrogation of Islam I gained God’s most precious gift - Islam, or surrender to the peace. I've heard Christians say that with Christianity you "know God on a personal level." In Islam, your relationship with God is so much deeper than that. God is with me every moment, guiding me, teaching me, loving me, protecting me, liberating me, enlightening me, comforting me... Alhamdulilah for Islam!Islam has done a lot for me. More than I could have ever guessed. And every day, it just gets better. I went from living my life on a trial-and-error basis to embracing guidance, and now knowing what the best choices are for me to make. From seeking who I am and spending a life in confusion, I am being guided. I can't find the words to say what its like, but I'll try again: God reveals to me what life is. I don't have to guess anymore.- -- -Sura 93, “The Morning Hours”By the morning hours

By the night when it is still

Your lord has not abandoned youand does not hate you

What is after will be better

than what came before

To you the lord will be giving

You will be content

Did he not find you orphaned and give you shelterFind you lost and guide youFind you in hunger and provide for youAs for the orphan, do not oppress himAnd one who asks, do not turn him awayAnd the grace of your lord -- proclaim- -- -That is what I went through, what God did for me - what I am. So here is my proclamation to the world. Islam is more than you think it is, in fact more liberal than most would wish it to be. But do not only listen. Study all views for yourself...and come to your own conclusion. God says “let there be no compulsion in religion” because faith in God is a choice made by the heart, and it can't be forced.

Where Are You From? A New York Puerto Rican (Nuyorican) Muslim Cab Driver's Story

By, Khalil Al-Puerto Rikani

I have a bit to say about the cab industry in New York City, since I have driven cab there. In the summers when I would come home from studying in Saudi, I would go drive cab on the streets of NYC. I did not have time to go to all these conference, translate books, or give classes like other brothers were doing. I was too busy trying to feed my family. I drove yellow cab which is based mainly in the street of Manhattan.

While the "cabbie" of the past consisted of working-class White people, most today are non-White and Muslim. I could not help but stigmatized with being an other from passengers. Most of my customers were professional upper-class White who came to NY from some other part of the country. They would always ask me, "Where are you from?" When I would reply New York there would be a shock and sort of confusion. There would also be some denial on the part of others. Here I am a native New Yorker and simply because I may "look like a foreigner" whatever that means, and I had outsiders from other states denying my authentic New Yorkness.

As most Puerto Rican, my family has been in New York since the 40s. Puerto Ricans have contributed so much to New York’s economy, culture, music, and society. They helped to bring salsa (actually Afro-Cuban jazz) to the world and are co-originators of Hip-Hop. So because was rocking a beard I have somehow become a "foreigner," an "Arab," a "Pakistani," i.e. THE OTHER. What right do these people have to question my American nationality or my New York authenticity? Most yellow cab drivers are Muslim West Africans, Pakistanis, Haitian, and leftover Puerto Rican and working-class White from the 80s. In the outer-boroughs the cab industry is quite different. In the Bronx and East & Central Harlem most cab drivers are Muslim West Africans, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and a growing number of Mexicans.

In Manhattan’s Lower East Side (Loisaida) there are various Latino cab drivers. Queens has a lot of Arab and Pakistani drivers. Brooklyn also has a lot of Arab, Caribbean, and Latino drivers. Throughout the cab industry, you hardly see any African-American drivers despite the fact that they are one the largest ethnic groups in New York City. In Yonkers (a city just north of the Bronx), where I am from, Latinos represent about 85% of the drivers. Dominicans used to dominate but now Mexicans do.

Despite the fact that non-Whites are the "cream of the crop" of the industry; they do not run the industry. The industry is runned by one of the most draconic and oppressive government agencies in the U.S. - the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). Ethnically Jews have a big say on the direction of the industry. I can only assume that this is because must own medallions. That is another thing; most yellow cab drivers do not own the actual medallion and pay about $100 for a 12-hour shift. The industry is highly regulated. Most of these regulations originated during Rudy "Adolph" Giuliani’s dictatorship. He messed up the industry. I no longer have my license, due to some complications I won't get into, but I still remember driving around the streets of NYC.

I know I do not post much for the culture aspect of my blog. That is basically because there are a lot things in culture which contradict Islam. Music, according to my understanding is haram (forbidden). So here goes some poetry from a friend of mine, Bonafide. Hope ya'll like it. Please ignore the comment about acid. I think he was joking about that.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Question: If the congregation became crowded in the masjid, then is it permissible for some of them to pray (immediately) to the right of the imaam and his left. And is the one who prays (immediately) to the right of the imaam regarded as having attained the reward for praying in the first row?

Response: If the congregation became crowded in the masjid, then there is no harm in praying (immediately) to the right of the imaam or to his left, or to the right of him only, and those who do so are not regarded as (being in) the first row, because the first row is the first row behind the imaam.

All praise is due to Allaah and may the Salaat and Salaam be upon the final Messenger of Allaah, his family and his companions.

To proceed:

Concerning the propagation of the recent "Pledge of Mutual Respect and Co-operation" that was signed by a number of callers of diverse theological backgrounds and students from the West, we thought it befitting that it be presented to some of the Scholars so that they may clarify the legislated stance towards such a pledge, and that the view point of the people of knowledge could be shared with the Muslim minorities in the West. We also present the translated copy of the pledge for those who would like to ascertain what is being presented to the people of knowledge and that no additions or subtractions were made that may affect their responses. Any issues that may arise concerning the accuracy of the translation can be sent to:

...and we will make the necessary changes, inshaa.-Allaah, if such changes affect the meanings of what is being presented.

The first Scholar approached concerning the pledge was Shaykh `Alee Naasir Faqeehee (a lecturer at al-Masjid an-Nabawee and the Islaamic University of Madeenah, and Head of the Department of Knowledge Related Affairs at the King Fahd Qur.aan Printing Complex) on the 22nd of Ramadhaan 1428. We will continue to share the views of the people of knowledge concerning this pledge as we present it to them, and add their comments to this document with the permission of Allaah the Exalted.

The Shaykh, may Allaah preserve him, mentioned a number of points which are worthy of reflecting upon - for all:

After reading it, the Shaykh began by stating that: "This is not the first, second, tenth or even hundredth time that an attempt such as this has been made. For a long time efforts have been made in order to produce such a formula, the only thing that differs is the method and the wordings. It should be known that achieving the objectives of such a pledge is impossible; it is like shooting a stray bullet that will never reach its target. How can (a pledge such as) this be possible, bringing together people of different theological[1] backgrounds that are contradictory to each other?!"

The Shaykh described the basis for such a pledge as proceeding from the principle of "let us co-operate amongst ourselves in the issues that we agree upon, and excuse one another in the issues that we disagree upon".

In support of the Islaamic University of Madeenah, the Shaykh iterated: "Just because some of the co-signers (of "The Pledge") are graduates from the Islaamic University (of Madeenah) does not mean that the methodology of the University is at fault. Rather, the methodology of the University is correct, however, the University cannot guarantee that all the students who graduate from it are or will remain upon the same methodology".

In reference to the claim that "The Pledge" is specific to issues pertaining to the West, the Shaykh vehemently rejected this by saying: "Their claim that this is a Western issue and that Major Scholars elsewhere do not need to be involved: We say to them that the same Islaam you have over there in the West is the same Islaam we have here. What is false and contradictory to Islaam over here is also false and contradictory to Islaam over there. Islaam is suitable for all times and places".

The Shaykh advised that the pledge be taken to other scholars so that the legislated stance towards the falsehood that it consists of can be further elaborated on. Until that time, we would like to share the comments of Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymeen concerning the error of those who include other groups such as the Ashaai`rah and Maturidiyyah in the circle of Ahlus Sunnah, as occurs in the Shaykh`s Majmoo` al-Fataawa:

"Therefore they are united upon the Sunnah, they are Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa`ah. It is understood from the author`s[2] words that those who disagree with them in their methodology are not included with them. So the Ashaa`irah and Maturidiyyah for example are not considered to be from Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa`ah because they are in opposition to what the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, and his companions were upon in terms of understanding and implementing the Attributes of Allaah the Elevated with their apparent meanings.

Therefore, those who claim that Ahlus Sunnah are comprised of three groups; Salafiyoon, Ashaa`irah and Maturidiyyah, are erroneous. We say; how can all of them be from Ahlus Sunnah while they contradict each other? Is there anything after the truth except falsehood?! How could all of them be Ahlus Sunnah while each one refutes the other? This is impossible, it could only be possible if two opposites can be combined, if so then yes this would be possible.

There is no doubt that only one of these groups alone are the Sunnis, so which one is it; the Ashaa`irah, Maturidiyyah or Salafiyyah? We say that whoever is in accord with the Sunnah is the Sunni (adherer to the Sunnah) and whoever is in opposition to the Sunnah is not a Sunni. We say that the Salaf, they are the ones who adhered to the Sunnah and they are the Jamaa`ah, and this label cannot be attributed to other than them. Never!

Words are according to their meanings, so let`s look and see, how could we label those who oppose the Sunnah `Ahlus Sunnah` [or Sunnis for short]?! It is impossible, and how can we claim that three groups that differ with each other are united? Where is the unity?!

Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa`ah are those who follow the Salaf in their `Aqeedah, including individuals from the latter [generations] until the Day of Resurrection. If an individual is upon the way of the Prophet,صلى الله عليه وسلم, and his companions, then indeed he is a Salafee."

Madeenah.Com Administration,- revised and approved by:

Abu Abdul Waahid Nadir Ahmad

Abu Abdullaah Mohammed Akhtar Chaudhry

Zulfiker Ibrahim al-Memoni al-Athari

Footnotes:[1] The term used by the Shaykh was "Aqeedah" which is translated into creed, but being that the term "theology" was used for creed in the pledge, it was retained for consistency.[2] Shaykhul-Islaam ibn Taymiyyah, may Allaah have mercy upon him.[3] As an added benefit, Ibn `Uthaymeen states in his explanation of al-`Aqeedah as-Safariniyyah:

“Who are Ahlul Athar? They are the people who adhered to the narrations, they adhered to the Book and the Sunnah and the statements of the Sahaabah, may Allaah be pleased with them. This label cannot be applied upon any group or sect except the Salafees, those who adhere to the methodology of the Salaf.”

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Old Salafi Movement

I found this post at the blog entilled "A Singular Voice: Abdur Rahman Muhammad's Weblog." He makes some interesting points that I agree with such as the importance of `aqidah and being concerned about other one's life. I have been thinking about putting out something I started on the Salafiyyah in the US. It is more of a historical overview of Salafiyyah here in the States. What do you all think? Should I upload the article I wrote?

One brother from this blog asked the following questions about the old salafi movement:

How many STABLE islamic schools have been established by SALAFIS in the US?How many grave yards have been established by the Salafi movement in the US?How many medical clinics established by Salafis in the US?How many salafi relief organizations in the US?Any ’salafi’ soup kitchens or food banks in the US of note?What have this movement really done?

First of all I want to state that I was never a part of the clique of brothers that collectively called themselves ‘the salafis‘, and I can appreciate what the brother above is saying as it was one of the pitfalls of that movement - extreme isolation, disengagement from society and disregard for the immediate world around them. It was strange to many Muslims to see these brothers try to tear down the good that other Muslims were doing in establishing masjids, muslim graveyards, and zakat funds, while they were presenting no viable alternative. However, I can not say that that movement was totally devoid of any good.

While they failed to established any of the above mentioned items in the height of their movement, I think that we can thank the 1990’s Salafi Movement for bringing a heightened awareness of matters of aqeedah -which is a good thing. However their mistake was to declare that work in others areas was somehow ‘blameworthy’ and this is one factor that led to the movement’s decline. I found it to be totally asinine for brothers from crime and drug infested neighborhoods to be debating the merits (or lack thereof) of this and that ruler from Muslim countries, while their families and neighborhoods were completely ignored all in the name of righteousness.

There are many groups of Muslims that have done much good, but at the same time we must have the correct aqeedah. This is the balanced way. We do not have to belong to a small clique of brothers that attend the same conferences with the same telelinks and the same speakers. I hope that moving past this gang-like type of thinking.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

This post may or may not appeal to any non-Muslim readers I have, so if you feel you want to skip on by, my feelings will remain in tact.

I didn't want to read these things, but I did. I admit it. I am a glutton for punishment, unable to resist a hot topic every now and again. As a result, I now have a headache I just tried to kill with two aspirin and a few swigs of CocaCola. Oh, and a small cup of Nescafe.

"And I want to say that despite all of the jokes and denigration people direct at White sisters (esp. those who came to Islam after marriage), some of the most heartbroken, saddest people I have ever met are White sisters in a cross-cultural marriage. They’re just trying to get through this life with some taqwa, and what they get from all sides is a whole lotta nothin’."

I read those two sentences over and over. Instantly, a dozen or more images of sisters I have known in my thirteen years of being a Muslim flashed through my mind. Sad, sad sisters, sisters who wanted to know what was intrinsically wrong with them, why they were so unhappy, why they were misunderstood, unaccepted, or marginalized, either within their communities, their own homes, or both. I saw, in my mind's eye, women who used to be mentors to myself and dozens of other new Muslimahs, who if I saw on the street today, I would not know or recognize. I saw sisters who have left their religion, not after one year or three years, but after fifteen or more years of learning their deen and raising their children in it. I saw sisters who convinced themselves that if they had only been prettier or thinner or learned to cook all of the complicated Arabic dishes just like his Mama or what if he had not been so hard to please, or whatever other ridiculous 'what ifs' that can finish these statements. All of these women were or are in cross-cultural marriages, and came into these marriages for the long haul. Happily ever after.

Some of them, like myself, married their husbands with no real religious identity. Others made drastic changes, from Catholicism to Islam, Southern Baptist to Islam, etc. Some sisters I know studied the deen for years and years before accepting Islam as their faith. But I must say, I know no one, and I mean no one, who was ever coerced into accepting Islam as her religion. On the contrary, many of us embraced Islam and our husbands said, "Hey, she's serious about this, I'd better fly right." And then came the children.

I honestly do not understand why when or how we sisters accepted Islam is of any bearing on what we make of our choices. Taking shahadah is the first step in a lifelong task of seeking knowledge. We have thousands of choices to make on this trip, and consequences for each one made.

Why is it, then, that when the troubles might start to brew in our marriages, or with our health, or within our extended families (in-laws!) that we make the wrong choices? We may choose to give too much of ourselves, leaving no room for spiritual growth or for even time enough in our days for sitting down to read three pages of a text. Or we may turn inwards, squelching our once vibrant personalities, trading our creativity for the mundane--in essence, erasing ourselves. We may become so full of resentment towards our situations or others that we begin to accept the labels we are given. We don't deserve the good that comes our way, fun = guilt, personal time is not ours anymore. If we lose too much of ourselves, we may look for a scapegoat. Guess what is often first to be blamed?

It's that Islam.

Falling into a sinkhole is not our religion's fault. Get out of it. Stop being sad. All believers will one day be tested. Our tests may come in many shapes and forms; when the rough times rain down on us, and they will, do we turn our face away from our Lord?

We can get through this life with taqwa. And if all we get back in this life is a whole lot of nothing, so be it. Persevere.

Here is an interesting article that was in the New York Times last week. It raises some points about how Sesame Street is not suitable for todays children. I don't know about you but I don't seem anything wrong with me watching this with my 3 years old son Ishaq. I mean the stuff he watches give off some of a bad message than Oscar the Grouch smoking on some pipe. I might just go and and buy this DVD, so I can enjoy it with my family. These old episodes have a true sense of "realness" to them. The show was originally made for inner-city kids. That mean it was design to teach Latino and African-American kids. I can still remember watching "Sesame Street" and then "Mister Rogers" back when I was about 2 or 3 years old and living on Morris Avenue in the Bronx. That was before my mother enrolled me into nursery school at "The Twig is Bent" on Webster Avenue.

Sunny days! The earliest episodes of “Sesame Street” are available on digital video! Break out some Keebler products, fire up the DVD player and prepare for the exquisite pleasure-pain of top-shelf nostalgia.

Just don’t bring the children. According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

Say what? At a recent all-ages home screening, a hush fell over the room. “What did they do to us?” asked one Gen-X mother of two, finally. The show rolled, and the sweet trauma came flooding back. What they did to us was hard-core. Man, was that scene rough. The masonry on the dingy brownstone at 123 Sesame Street, where the closeted Ernie and Bert shared a dismal basement apartment, was deteriorating. Cookie Monster was on a fast track to diabetes. Oscar’s depression was untreated. Prozacky Elmo didn’t exist.

Nothing in the children’s entertainment of today, candy-colored animation hopped up on computer tricks, can prepare young or old for this frightening glimpse of simpler times. Back then — as on the very first episode, which aired on PBS Nov. 10, 1969 — a pretty, lonely girl like Sally might find herself befriended by an older male stranger who held her hand and took her home. Granted, Gordon just wanted Sally to meet his wife and have some milk and cookies, but . . . well, he could have wanted anything. As it was, he fed her milk and cookies. The milk looks dangerously whole.

Live-action cows also charge the 1969 screen — cows eating common grass, not grain improved with hormones. Cows are milked by plain old farmers, who use their unsanitary hands and fill one bucket at a time. Elsewhere, two brothers risk concussion while whaling on each other with allergenic feather pillows. Overweight layabouts, lacking touch-screen iPods and headphones, jockey for airtime with their deafening transistor radios. And one of those radios plays a late-’60s news report — something about a “senior American official” and “two billion in credit over the next five years” — that conjures a bleak economic climate, with war debt and stagflation in the offing.

The old “Sesame Street” is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for softies born since 1998, when the chipper “Elmo’s World” started. Anyone who considers bull markets normal, extracurricular activities sacrosanct and New York a tidy, governable place — well, the original “Sesame Street” might hurt your feelings.

I asked Carol-Lynn Parente, the executive producer of “Sesame Street,” how exactly the first episodes were unsuitable for toddlers in 2007. She told me about Alistair Cookie and the parody “Monsterpiece Theater.” Alistair Cookie, played by Cookie Monster, used to appear with a pipe, which he later gobbled. According to Parente, “That modeled the wrong behavior” — smoking, eating pipes — “so we reshot those scenes without the pipe, and then we dropped the parody altogether.”

Which brought Parente to a feature of “Sesame Street” that had not been reconstructed: the chronically mood-disordered Oscar the Grouch. On the first episode, Oscar seems irredeemably miserable — hypersensitive, sarcastic, misanthropic. (Bert, too, is described as grouchy; none of the characters, in fact, is especially sunshiney except maybe Ernie, who also seems slow.) “We might not be able to create a character like Oscar now,” she said.

Snuffleupagus is visible only to Big Bird; since 1985, all the characters can see him, as Big Bird’s old protestations that he was not hallucinating came to seem a little creepy, not to mention somewhat strained. As for Cookie Monster, he can be seen in the old-school episodes in his former inglorious incarnation: a blue, googly-eyed cookievore with a signature gobble (“om nom nom nom”). Originally designed by Jim Henson for use in commercials for General Foods International and Frito-Lay, Cookie Monster was never a righteous figure. His controversial conversion to a more diverse diet wouldn’t come until 2005, and in the early seasons he comes across a Child’s First Addict.

The biggest surprise of the early episodes is the rural — agrarian, even — sequences. Episode 1 spends a stoned time warp in the company of backlighted cows, while they mill around and chew cud. This pastoral scene rolls to an industrial voiceover explaining dairy farms, and the sleepy chords of Joe Raposo’s aimless masterpiece, “Hey Cow, I See You Now.” Chewing the grass so green/Making the milk/Waiting for milking time/Waiting for giving time/Mmmmm.

Oh, what’s that? Right, the trance of early “Sesame Street” and its country-time sequences. In spite of the show’s devotion to its “target child,” the “4-year-old inner-city black youngster” (as The New York Times explained in 1979), the first episodes join kids cavorting in amber waves of grain — black children, mostly, who must be pressed into service as the face of America’s farms uniquely on “Sesame Street.”

For adventures in digital culture, don't miss The Medium, a blog by Virginia Heffernan.

You are invited to the second meeting of the ad-hoc committee to help the Morales Shakur Center on Tuesday, Nov. 20th at 6:30 PM at the Community Center in room NAC 3/201 at City College. The main student activists who have kept the Community Center running have either graduated or are about to graduate. The main issue facing the Community Center is to insure that there is a core group of City College students committed to carrying on the work of the Morales/Shakur Center next year.

There is also a need for community members and groups to come forward with commitments to help the Center in terms of staffing, resources, programs, recruiting and outreach.

You are receiving this e-mail because you are one of the people who have supported the Community Center or participated in the work of the Community Center in the recent past. Many of you came forward when the Morales/Shakur Center was under attack last year and in previous years. Now the Morales/Shakur Center is facing a crisis of succession and we need your advice, your nsights and your commitment to help keep the door of the Community Center open for the students and community members it has served since 1990.

I hope you can come. Lydia's notes and minutes from the last meeting are below.For further information call the Morales/Shakur Center at 212-650-5008 or contact Jeanne (646-271-5138; jbollivierre@aol.com); Lydia (646-610-0431; lydia528@yahoo.com) or Rodolfo (rleyton@aol.com).

Monday, November 19, 2007

More on Puerto Rican Muslims Gotta Stop Reproducing Old Models: An Answer to Abdul-Halim's Comments

Abdul-Halim V. said...salaam,I respect your opinion and think you definitely have a point. But at the same time, I would argue that Islamic economic principles could actually be classed as left-of-center (in the sense of putting restraints on free market capitalism). So I'm not terribly bothered by Muslims who might use the socialist label.

I think what you say about Puerto Rican nationalism also makes sense, but it is also possible for Muslims (whether they are Puerto Rican or not) to be in support of Puerto Rican independence.

But I definitely agree with your general point that it is better to be leaders and create new models for the future than simply look backwards to models which are no longer valid.

Thank you for you comments brother. I think the most harming part of accepting the White Left's model is that it tends the promote the Left's immoral positions on social issues. There is where I think there is the most harm.

In the this piece I wrote, I wanted to speak about how the "thinkers" and "intellectuals" of the Young Lords movement were highly influened by their a particular leftist postions that were/are prevelant amongst White people - more specifically the influence of the Jewish Left. Many of the leftist movements of people of color were not carbon-copies of the White Left. The Young Lords, I believe were more influence by the White Left than other groups of color.

One quick point in reference is the Young Lord's position on contraception. The Young Lord in imitation of White feminists were all for it while the Black Panthers - the Young Lords African-American couinterparts - were against it. Another example is that Brown Berets - the Chicano equivalent group - did not give in to white femininism and were looking for a progressive machismo, where as the Young Lords took a stance totally against machismo.

It is understandable that the "intellectuals" of the Young Lords were regurgitating what their Jewish professors were teaching them at Columbia, NYU, Lehman, Hunter, and other colleges. Pablo "Yoruba" Guzman wrote a whole chapter in the a book by Michael Abramson about the Young Lord called, "Palante: Young Lords Party," about how homosexuals are oppressed and how we should struggle for their rights. In the 60s and 70s the Young Lords, as many other people in the country were taking part of the "Sexual Revolution." Instead of affirming Puerto Ricans' traditional culture (which is more in line with Islam) they helped to spread this "Sexual Revolution" in the Puerto Rican community and this "Revolution" has helped to spread fornication, promiscuity, AIDS, and teenage pregnancies. Member of the Young Lords a'oodhubillah would activelly take part in orgies. They never stressed family values and how the community must be built upon the family.

On the point about independance there need to be new models as well that are in conformity with the Quran and Sunnah upon the understanding of the early generations of Muslims. One does not have to accept nationalism in order to be independentista.

As far as Alianza Islamica they are no longer around. That is for many reasons: poor leadership, nationalism, sufism, not establishing 5 salawat at it's masjid, lack of vision, and lack of knowledge. You cannot have a movement based around the fact that we are all from the same culture, nationality, or race. Members of Alianza Islamica were some of the first Puerto Rican Muslims to blindly follow old models. In there case it is more understandable since many were former Young Lords. The leaders of Alianza, I might add, were not from amongst the leadership of the Young Lords and the "intellectuals." They were not from the "movers and shakers" but from the rank and file. This may answer why Islam did not spread amongt large segments of the Puerto Rican population of New York. They had come from the cadre of the Party. So what is the excuse for people in 2007 who continue to use these old models?

However, I do think that Puerto Ricans and any ethnic group cannot effectively be galvanized around ethnicity but around a common ideology. That ideology in order to be acceptable to Allah must be based on the Quran and Sunnah. Even if it is not upon such a basis it can be successful in a worldy sense of the word, but Allah says, "Whoever obeys Allah and his Messenger has indeed achieved the greatest achievement." It is only through that way that it will be blessed from Allah, even if the numbers are few. There also need to be leadership that is charismatic, knowledgable, and strong not dictatorial who trully believe in transparancy.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Puerto Rican Muslims Gotta Stop Reproducing Old Models

by, Khalil Al-Puerto Rikani

Alhumdulillah there are many Puerto Rican and other Latinos coming to Islam all the time. This is a great blessing from Allah. One thing I have noticed is that there seems to be a backlash against those Latinos who are seen as traitors to their culture from the non-Muslim Latinos. Ironically, Puerto Ricans whose culture has been the most corrupted and changed from its traditions have been the most vocal against Latino Muslims.

It has created a reaction from many Puerto Rican Muslims who feel the need to “prove” their puertorriquenidad (Puerto Ricanness). This has created a need to try and bridge the gap between ones Puerto Rican identity and Muslim identity. While I am all for the bridging of these identities, I think that the current models are not satisfactory. Most of the Puerto Rican Muslim models have been highly influenced by Puerto Rican nationalists. One group that had had a profound effect on the young Puerto Rican Muslims is the Young Lords Party (originally known as the Young Lords Organization) of the late 60s to late 70s. Therefore, Puerto Rican Muslims have become receivers and not generators or creators of culture.

One of the biggest problems with the Puerto Rican Muslims being “followers” as opposed to “leaders” is that Boricua Muslims are reproducing kufr ideas and ideologies such as nationalism, socialism, secularism, Western feminism, etc. Let us not forget that despite the fact that the Young Lords did do many great things in our communities, the group also helped to spread a culturally leftist model. Most of the leaders of the Young Lords were atheists and influenced by the White Left. It is unfortunate that none of the leaders and “movers and shakers” of the YLP became Muslim. There were however many of the grassroots of the YLP whom became Muslim. Unfortunately, there has never evolved charismatic leaders to help to spread Islam in the Puerto Rican community by leaps and bounds.

Puerto Rican Muslims have to stop having a complex about being Boricua and Muslim. You no not see other Latino Muslims having of of the issues that Puerto Rican Muslims have. What Puerto Rican Muslims have ot do is create new models of culture and produce leaders and intellectuals that will help define Puerto Ricanness based upon Islamic principles. Puerto Rican Muslims need to change people’s minds. We must be firm in our understanding of the Qur’an and Sunnah. This means not just a rudimentary understanding, but a deep one that can draw on ayat and ahadith. They must have a high-level of knowledge and insight into the traditional sciences. Also with that, there must be some of those whom have this knowledge-based background who also have an understanding of how culture works. Culture is live and always changes. It is like a living creature. They must have insight and knowledge of Puerto Rican culture. Puerto Rican culture is not homogenous. There is no one Puerto Rican culture. These new leaders and scholars must be about the change the culture and Islamicize it. They must never perpetuate negative aspects of the culture.

It is only by creating such an environment that we can see a “golden age” and healthy growth of Islam in the Puerto Rican community and the wider community. Let us be leaders and not followers. PALANTE SIEMPRE. Go forward brothers and sisters. Don’t look backwards. The Young Lords have come and gone. Alianza Islamica has come and gone. At whom will the next generation be looking? Will we leave any legacy?

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Pat Robertson Endorses Rudy: Deems Him 'More Than Acceptable to People of Faith'

By, Chris CillizzaWashington PostWednesday, November 7, 2007

Pat Robertson, one of the most influential figures in the social conservative movement, announced his support for Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid this morning at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. [Watch the video at link below]

Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani is a significant blow to Mitt Romney, who has worked hard to court

Robertson's support was coveted by several of the leading Republican candidates and provides Giuliani with a major boost as the former New York City mayor seeks to convince social conservatives that, despite his positions supporting abortion rights and gay rights, he is an acceptable choice as the GOP nominee.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) picked up the endorsement of Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas conservative and favorite of evangelical Christians, who recently dropped out of the GOP presidential field. The endorsement could provide a needed boost to McCain's campaign, especially in Iowa. Brownback called McCain "the best pro-life candidate to beat Hillary Clinton."Following Robertson's formal announcement at the Press Club, the Fix had a chance to sit down with the reverend and Giuliani to further explore their relationship.

Robertson and Giuliani have crossed paths several times during the course of their careers but they were able to get to know one another better on a flight home from Israel in 2003.

While Robertson has been heavily courted by a number of presidential candidates -- most notably Mitt Romney -- in recent months, he decided to cast his lot with Giuliani in order to counter a movement among some evangelicals to support a third party candidate if the former New York City Mayor becomes the Republican nominee.

"I thought it was important for me to make it clear that Rudy Giuliani is more than acceptable to people of faith," said Robertson. "Given the fractured nature of the process, I thought it was time to solidify around one candidate."

He insisted that while some on the "fringe" of the social conservative movement may see Giuliani as an unacceptable nominee, the "core know better."

Robertson said although he and Giuliani disagree on social issues, those disagreements "pale into insignificance" when measured against the import of the fight against global terrorism and radical Islam. "We need a man who sees clearly how to deal with that issue," said Robertson.

For his part, Giuliani cited Robertson as simply the latest evidence that he shares large swaths of common ground with people of faith -- emphasizing his work to rid Times Square of pornography and his promise to appoint strict constructionists to the federal bench if elected president.

"If they look at my record they are going to a lot more areas of agreement than disagreement," asserted Giuliani, noting that some of his opponents -- who he chose not to name -- have their own weaknesses on issues important to social conservatives.

In May our colleauge Alan Cooperman described Robertson as a member of "an older generation of evangelical leaders" that includes the Rev. Billy Graham, psychologist James C. Dobson and the Rev. D. James Kennedy, who are "ailing or nearing retirement," and who are seeing their movement "tugged in different directions" by a new crop of activists.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama said Friday that as president he would personally negotiate with Iran, offering economic incentives and a chance for peaceful relations if Iranian leaders would forgo pursuit of nuclear weapons and support of terrorists.

Citing a long history of progress through diplomatic gestures toward China and the former Soviet Union, Obama laid out in stronger terms his call for diplomacy with Iran — a policy with greater emphasis on negotiation than the Bush administration policy and a stance that has been ridiculed by his fellow Democratic presidential candidates.

"There is the potential at least for us finding ways of peacefully resolving some of our conflicts, and that effort has not been attempted," Obama said. "And if we don't make that attempt, then we're going to find ourselves continuing on the path that Bush and Cheney have set, and we're seeing the rhetoric rise every day."

"It has consequences not only for our strategic interests, it has consequences for our troops in Iraq and it has consequences for our economy," Obama told NBC's "Today" show.

He reiterated statements in a New York Times interview, published Friday, in which he said Iran might be offered membership in the World Trade Organization and assurances that the United States would not seek "regime change" if Iranian leaders changed their ways on key issues.

"We would be very clear with Iran and say 'We don't accept your development of nuclear weapons'," Obama told NBC, saying he would also strongly reject Iran's financing of terrorist organizations and its anti-Israel rhetoric.

Republican rival Rudy Giuliani dismissed Obama's ideas.

"The idea of begging your enemy to negotiate with you is a fundamentally flawed position. You've got to have a position of strength," Giuliani said at a news conference.

Asked about suggestions from Hillary Clinton's campaign that six other Democrats, all men, unfairly piled on the only female candidate at the last debate, Obama said he had experienced similar attacks in an earlier debate in Iowa, when he talked about negotiating Iran and other rogue nations.

"We spent, I think, the first 15 minutes of the debate hitting me on various foreign policy issues and I didn't come out and say look I'm being hit on because I look different from the rest of the folks on the stage," said Obama, the son of a black father and a white mother.

"I assumed it was because there were real policy differences there," he said. "And I think that has to be the attitude that all of us take."

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Isaiah 42 describes Muhammad

It is amazing, nowadays, how many people are trying to discredit Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah mention him amongt the angels). Therefore, I though it necessary to put this out. To those truth seekers out there from amongst the Christians and Jews look at the following article and ask yourself 'why do you now accept the message of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah mention him amongt the angles)?'

If we consider "mine elect" as a noun then Mine elect = God's elect = Mustafa (in Arabic) the name of our Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (SAV). Otherwise it is true for all prophets of God.After "..delighted..."

All prophets after Jacob (pbuh) mentioned in the Bible came for Israelites not Gentiles. This includes Jesus (pbuh) (look Matthew 15:21-26, Matthew 10:5-6 and many more). And Jesus (pbuh) did not stay on earth long enough to do that. But Muhammad (pbuh) was a Gentile and he brought message and judgment to Gentiles first.

2- He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heart in the street.Here the word "not cry" is used as "not complain about the duty that I gave him" because we see in verse 13 God says "... he shall cry". There is a difference between these two using of the word cry. Now if we read your Bible Matthew 26:39-42, we can not say that Jesus (pbuh) never complained.

But if you read the life of Muhammad (pbuh) , the history of Islam you cannot find even one complaining word of Muhammad (pbuh) about the mission (duty) that given by God Almighty.

3- A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

This is true almost all prophets.

4- He shall not fall nor be discouraged, till he had set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

Until "earth:"

Jesus (pbuh) couldn't finish his mission which had continued only for ~3 years. He fall and discouraged (you will find many places in NT about this) and he couldn't set judgment in the earth, because his followers were a few and they had little faith (you will find many places in NT about this). And yet they "forsook him and fled" at the time that Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus (pbuh). And Jesus (pbuh) himself says "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence " John 18:36

But Muhammad established a state and ruled with his law that given by God. Therefore he set judgment in the earth and he did not fall and he was not discouraged.

After "earth:"

Here God says "his law", and in verse 9 says "former things come to pass". This means that he (new prophet) will bring new law. But if we read the Bible again, we see that Jesus (pbuh) says Matthew 5:17 "Think not I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but fulfill". And if we read further we understand that Jesus (pbuh) did not come with new law.

But Muhammad (pbuh) came with new law.

5- Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which come out of it ; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein;

6- I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.

Muhammad (pbuh) is a descendent of Abraham (pbuh) and came to Gentiles.7- To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

"To open blind eyes". If we read verse 19 we will see more clearly that the word blind is used as idiom.

Meaning, he will show people the things that they did not know and will show people how to comprehend God and His message.

Prison is used as an idiom too. If a spirit doesn't know God and doesn't obey Him, then that spirit is in prison of Satan, and that person is prisoner of Satan. By accepting oneness of God and by obeying Him, the spirit of a person will be free and this makes that person free from prison of Satan. And in verse 8 God clearly states what He meant.

8- I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

(With explanation of verse 7) we understand that the person that God is talking about will come to a place that people worship idols as their gods. If we read verse 17, we may understand this better.

From verses 7 and 8, we understand that God is not talking about Jesus (pbuh) but Muhammad (pbuh). Because Jesus (pbuh) came to Israelites and they were not worshipping idols. But Muhammad (pbuh) came during the Jahilliya (ignorance) period of Arabs and destroy the idols. If we read verse 17, it will be understood more clearly.

9- Behold, the former things come to pass, the new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

As we read in verse 4 and my explanation of it, the person, God is talking about, will come new law. And this person cannot be Jesus (pbuh) because of the reasons stated above. This person is nobody but prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

10- Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles and inhabitants thereof.

If you want to hear this new song please listen to someone reciting the Qur'an. The new song that God talking about is Noble Qur'an. If you hear how people recite the Noble Qur'an, you will understand what God is talking about.

11- Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

12- Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.

Kedar is son of Ishmael (pbuh) (Genesis 25:13-16), and has nothing to do with Jesus (pbuh). This verse (verse 11) is not talking about Jesus (pbuh) but Muhammad (pbuh). As you know Muhammad (pbuh) is descendent of Abraham (pbuh) through Ishmael (pbuh). And the cities that they inhabited are in Arabia namely Telma (Tema/Teman), Yathrib (Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah), Paran (Makkah) etc. And if you observe the ritual of Muslims (especially during Hajj), you will see that cities (Makkah and Al-Madinah) lift up their voices** and people shout and glorify Allah from top of mountains, especially Mt. Arafat**. The rock is the rock that God sent to Adam from heaven, and it is located at the side of Kaba. As you know Muslim people make 7 tours around Kaba and kiss this rock while glorifying the Lord.

**in fact, you can see this in every Muslim country, when people are called to prayer, muezzins read the Adhan (calling to prayer) that sounds like a song. And even far from city you can hear this Adhan, it will look like that city lifted up its voice. Meaning of Adhan is

Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatestAllah is the greatest, Allah is the greatestI'm witness that there is no god but AllahI'm witness that there is no god but AllahI'm witness that Muhammad is His messengerCome to prayer, come to prayerCome to salvation, come to salvationAllah is the greatest, Allah is the greatestThere is no god but Allah.

13- The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

14- I have long time holding my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing women; I will destroy and devour at once.

Until Islam, God had never ordered any prophets to fight against unbelievers to destroy them. Believer were fighting only to defense themselves. But Allah ordered Muhammad (pbuh) to fight against unbelievers, and slay them if they don't accept Allah. And if you study the life of Muhammad (pbuh) you will see that he was the commander of the army and he fought with his sword and he lost one of his teeth during the war. And God destroyed unbelievers at once (with only during of one prophet).

15- I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

Here God is talking about deserts of Arabia. In desert place, mountains and hills of sand are not steady, they diminish with winds and another one appears. And you can not find rivers but small water islands as described by God.

Also this verse has nothing to do with Jesus (pbuh)

16- And I will bring blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked thins straight. These things I will do unto them, and not forsake them.As God says above, He did not send to pagan Arabs until Muhammad (pbuh) as stated in verse

17- They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that they say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.

This is exactly what pagan Arabs did, when they heard the message that given to Muhammad (pbuh) by God. They offered money, authority and many things to our prophet and he did not accept any of them. They ashamed, because they thought that all other Arabs will mock them, and will not visit the Kaba (at that time they were using Kaba as place of the idols that all other Arab tribes were using) and this would be their economic end. And they turned graven images and they asked help from those images.

This verse also has nothing to do with Jesus (pbuh).

18- Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

19- Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant?

20- Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.In this verses God talks to Christians and Jews.

In verse 18: Hear you (Christians and Jews) deaf, and look you (Christians and Jews) blind, you may see that above things are happening every day in Islamic world.

In verse 19: God says, "Who is blind or deaf? My messenger (Muhammad (pbuh) and his followers) or you?

In verse 20: You do see these things but you don't pay attention, you don't comprehend. You do hear the Qur'an and you know that Muslims sing new song and Muslim cities lift up their voices and they shout from top of mountains, they glorify Me, but you don't pay attention, you don't comprehend.

Indeed, Christians and Jews think that Muslims do not see the right path (blind). Even you wrote that "What Muslims do not understand...".

These verses also have nothing to do with Jesus (pbuh).21- The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.

In Qur'an many places Allah calls Prophet as "My friend" (friend is not exactly translation for Habeeb/Habib, because Habeeb is closer then friend but I couldn't find another word for this). And He magnified the law and people still follow his law. Jesus did not bring new law, and non of the Christians follows the law that he was following.

This verse also has nothing to do with Jesus (pbuh)

22- But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.In this verse God talks about corrupted society of pagan Arabs. And, indeed, He had not send any prophets to Arabs until Muhammad (pbuh). That's why "none saith, Restore". But up to Jesus (pbuh), many prophets had been send to Israelites.This verse also has nothing to do with Jesus (pbuh)

23- Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?Who will become Muslim?

Disclaimer

This weblog tries to draw from many different ideas, cultures, religions, and methodologies that have helped to shaped whom I am. I may differ with some of the authors of some of material I post or links that I have here. My other blog "Islam is the Sunnah and Sunnah is Islam" is more oriented toward the correct Salafi understanding of Islam.

I appreciate if anyone has any criticism with regards to my blog, that you bring it to my attention.

Khalil

About Me

I am 35 years old, and I adhere to the Salafi methodology/way. I was born in the Bronx to New York Puerto Rican (Catholic) parents. During my teenage years, I starting to learn about my history since of course they don't teach us that in school. As a teenager, I had a lot of interaction with "Latino" and African-American Muslims. That lead to me taking my shahadah during my first semester of college. I eventually earned a bachelor's of art with a double major in Arabic and political science at the State University of New York at Binghamton. My concentration was in the Middle East and North Africa Studies. In 2000, I was offered a scholarship to study at Umm Al-Qura University. I studied there from 2000 to 2005. May Allah reward King Fahd (rahimahullah) for giving me a scholarship to teach in Saudi, Amin. Alhamdulillah, I have been fortunate to have sat with several scholars in Saudi Arabia. I currently live in Saudi Arabia with my wife and two children. I also hold a master's in TESOL.